Tire, wheel, and hubcap lock



d- 1952 R. o. CHANDLER 2,

TIRE, WHEEL, AND HUBCAP LOCK Filed Nov. 20, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Rex 0. Chandler INVENTOR.

BY m? Patented Oct. 21, 1952 "mm, WHEEL, AND HUBCAP Loon Rex 0. Chandler, Ceredo, W. Va. Application November 20, 1950, Serial No. 196,619

This invention relates to improvements in vehicle parts used in wheel assemblies.

An object of this invention is to provide an at- Ztachment for holding the vehicle wheel fixed to the drum of the vehicle, said attachment being a unit which has a number of bolts extendin therefrom and which is so constructed that upon operation of a ring gear the bolts are rotated so as to engage appropriate openings in the drum of the wheel assembly for holding thewheel fixed to the drum.

Another object of this invention is to provide an attachment as previously described which has a bracket secured to it constituting a means of receivinga locking device for a hub cap of the wheel assembly. i i A further object of this invention is to provide I separation of the axle 2 Claims. (01. 301- 9) Other objects and featuresof"importance, as

iront elevational view oi'. the atelevation? r l o Fi ure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken sub stantially on the line 4-4 of Figurel 3 Figure 5 is a reduced scalesectional view'taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 6 and in thedirection of the arrows;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is an elevational view of the back plate forming a part of the assembly;

I Figure 8 isanenlarged sectionalview taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 2; and, I Figure 9 is a sectional view showing one of the locking devices which hold the ring gear fixed with respect to the bolt. i

In the drawings there is some standard structure shown. There is the brake drum lflgthe axle 12 with its axle nut M held in place by means of the cotter pin l6, a wheel 18, together with a'tire and tube assembly 20. y, An attachment or unit 22 is provided ior holding'the wheel l8 fixed removably to the drum I 0.

Thisattachment includes a back plate 24' provided witha plurality of spaced openings 26 of a size sufiicientlylarge to accommodate the bolts 28. A central opening 30 is provided in the plate 24 to allow the axle l2 to pass therethrough.

A faceplate 32 constitutes a part of the attachment 22 and has a plurality of openings 34 therein, the openings 34 being aligned with the openlugs 26 to accommodate the circular parts 36 of thebolts 28. i i i An inner plate 38 is disposed between the face plate-32 and the back plate 24 and all" of the plates are held assembled by means of the screws 66. which pass through aligned openings in the face plate, inner plate and back plate. I

Thebolts 28 are ofspecial construction. In lieu of ordinary heads, the bolts have gears 44 constituting the heads ofthe bolts, theshank portion of the bolts extending from one face 01 the gear and the circular portion 36extending from each of the'othergears M. Inasmuch as the circular'portion 36 is located in the opening provided forit (Figure 8) and the part of the illustratedbolt 28 between the threads and the nearest face of the gear 44 is located in the opening 26 provided for it, the bolts 28 are mounted for rotation. l

ln order to provide space within which the gear 44 may rotate freely, the periphery of the inner plate 38 is provided with a plurality of outwardly opening spaced recesses 46.

Means for rotating all of the bolts 28 in unison is provided between the inner plate 24 and the face plate 32 and is held in place for rotation by the outer edges of theback plate 24 and the face plate 32. This means consists of a ring gear 50 which has its teeth engaged with the teeth of the gears 44 of the bolts 28. Accordingly when a tool, for example a spanner wrench, is engaged with the apertures 52 of the ring gear, the ring gear maybe rotated thereby causing the gears 44 and hence the bolts 28 to rotate. I a i In operation the attachment 22 is so arranged that the outer ends of thebolts are located in thethreaded apertures 56 of the hub l0 andthe axle M with its nut I4 is allowed to pass through the central openings 30 as wellas the cent ral openings 51 and 58 formed respectively in the 111-. ner plate 51 and the face plate 58. A spanner wrench or other suitable tool is engaged with the ring gear 50 and the ring gear is rotated thereby causing rotation of the studs 28. Inasmuch as the studs are located in such position astolbe capable of being threaded in the internally threaded openings 56, the attachment is fixed firmly in place on the wheel, the inner surface of the plate 24 contacting the wheel and pulling it firmly in place on the hub I 0.

A bracket 64 which includes a number of arms 65, is held fixed in place on the outside surface of the face plate 32. Standard screws 66 which are threaded in openings in the plates, hold the spider-type bracket 64 fixed in place with respect to the plates. There is a springfil carried by the bracket and arranged to contact the axle nut M to prevent it from separating fromthe axle 12.

This spring may be made sufficiently long so as work its way loose by 'road shocksjsand the like.

Accordingly, accidental wheel separation from the vehicle is avoided.

to encircle a part of the nut frictionally holding it in place and also holding thecotter pin l6 so= w as to prevent it from separating from the axle l2 and nut I l assembly.

An aperture 68 is provided centrally in the bracket 64 in order to accommodate the latch keeper 69 (Figure 4) which is arranged to be projected from the barrel of the look upon operation of the look by means of a key 12.

. The barrel H1 is carried by a hub cap .14 which is, -of sufiicient size to cover the entire wheel outer surface and the bead of the tire on the Wheel. I 1

, By the above described structure, it is impossible to separate the wheel from the vehicle unless the hub cap is removed. Since the hub cap cannot be removed without unlocking it,;- an anti-theft device results.

Moreover, the tire cannot be separated from the rim inasmuch as the outer edges of the hub cap overlie the bead of the tire and also a part of .the tire close to the bead. Hence, the lock serves the dual function of holding the hub cap in place to preventunauthorized operation of the attachment 22 and to prevent unauthorized separation of the tire from the wheel without removing the hub cap 14.

In order to insure that after the attachment 22 is so disposed as to hold the wheel I8 on the drum iii, the bolts 28 will not rotate, a plurality of locking devices are provided. Each locking device consists of a piston or plunger 18 mounted for reciprocation in-a cylinder 19, which is formed in the inner plate 38. There is a spring 80 having one end contacting the inner end of the cylinder 19 and the other end contacting the head of the plunger or piston 18, constantly pushing the plunger outwardly of the cylinder. A passage 83 is formed in the inner plate 38 to accommodate the keeper 84 which is in the form of a rod having a beveled end portion so as to ratchet over the teeth of the ring gear 50 when the ring gear is rotated in one direction. However when the ring gear is rotated in the opposite direction and the beveled end of the keeper 84 engaged with the teeth of the ring gear 50, the ring, gear cannot rotate. I

A bayonet slot 86 is formed in the face plate 32 andhas a pin 88 passed therethrough. The inner end of thi pin is fixed to the piston 18 so that the pin may be lifted and rotated to separate the keeper 84from the teeth of the ring gear SO. Then, the pin 88 may be rotated so as to become located upon the land of the bayonet slot 86. This holds the piston '18 inwardly of the cylinder 19 and against the compressive force of the spring 80. By moving the pin 88 slightly, it becomes separated from the land of the slot 85 whereby the spring 80presses the piston 18 outwardly of the cylinder 19 so that the keeper 84 engages in theteeth of the ring gear 50. One or more of the described locking devices may-be used, as found desirable or necessary.

Having described the claimed as new, is:

invention, what is l. in a vehicle wheel construction which includes drum with threaded apertures, and a 1 wheeLan attachment to fasten the wheel to the drum, said attachment comprising a back plate having a plurality of spaced openings, bolts disposed in said openings, each bolt having a head with teethon the periphery thereof, said bolts being threadedly disposed in said apertures and a ring gear disposed in engagement with the teeth of said bolts so that when said ring gear is rotated, said bolts are rotated, a face plate, an inner plate located between said back plate and said faceplate, means holding said plates asscmbled, said inner plate having outwardly opening recesses therein within which said heads are located, said ring gear being concentrically located with respect to said inner plate and having means to accommodate a tool to rotate said ring gear,,locking devices carried by said inner plate and, engaging said ring gear to prevent rotation of said ring gear, and means operatively connected with said locking devices and said face plate for releasably holding said locking devices released from said ring gear.

2. An attachment to hold a wheel on a brake drum and to hold a hub cap connected with the wheel, said attachment comprising a back plate with a plurality of openings therein, a face plate, an, inner plate disposed between said face plate and said backzplate, mean holding said'plates assembled, said inner plate having. openings aligned with the openings in said back plate, bolts mounted for rotation in pairs of said aligned openings, gears constituting heads of saidbolts, and a ring gear with teeth engaging the teeth of said gears to rotate all of said bolts in unison, said ring gear being arranged on the inner periphery of. said inner plate and held inplace by portions of said face plate and back plate which overlie parts f said ring gear, and said ring gear having tool accommodating means to rotate the ring gear, which tool accommodating means are accessible from the front face of said ring gear. REX O. CHANDLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 1

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

